People have long used scrapbooks, photo albums, and other such mementos to collect and preserve items of personal significance. While these objects are still functional, and enjoy wide use, they do not take full advantage of the increasing digital nature of our modern society. The ubiquity of digital cameras and camera equipped smart phones has led to a dramatic increase in the amount of personal, digital images and video that many people have in their possession. However, traditional memento books and journals are only able to display such images if a user chooses to print them out and attach them to the book.
Similarly, the digital images are often stored in large folders on a computer, phone, or tablet device. Even when these images are stored by date or event, it requires time to sort through a large volume of images to find the few that are truly relevant. Furthermore, the user is typically required to be seated in front of their device of choice in order to access these images or movies. Thus, if the files are stored on a computer or cell phone, it can be inconvenient to access a desired image if it is mixed in which a large number of other files. Furthermore, these images and video are not as readily accessed as pictures in a photo album. While devices such as digital picture frames partially alleviate this problem, they do not display images in any particular order, or in response to any cue. Instead, these devices merely cycle through preloaded images. Thus, the context that renders certain images “special” may not be readily evident.
Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to provide a book that will coordinate the display of physical media and digital media supplied by the end user of the book. By detecting the physical page that is currently on display, the book will be capable of displaying relevant digital media. Various methods of detecting the page to which a book is open are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,557,939, 8,011,122, and U.S. Patent application No. 2003/0170604.